


Taako And The Missing Detective

by SomeGrumpyNerd



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 01:44:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17152952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeGrumpyNerd/pseuds/SomeGrumpyNerd
Summary: A few days before Candlenights and Angus has gone missing. Taako’s determined to find him, and find out why he disappeared.





	Taako And The Missing Detective

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas Marilyn! I Know It Won’t Be The Best Fanfic Ever But I Hope It Makes You Smile Like You Make Me Smile! Love You Lil Sis

Angus was missing.

The run-up to Candlenights was hectic and stressful enough, Taako had been working more than he would ever admit to make sure the holiday was good for their favourite detective. The boy in question had (finally) gotten free of school and said he’d be sleeping over with Mavis for a few days before Candlenights Eve. Mavis was the older and dorkier of Merle’s kids, Taako didn’t think anything of it. 

That was until yesterday, when he’d called to ask Ango about some dinner preferences and Merle swore he hadn’t seen the kid at all. Mavis insisted he was around, doing this and that, even added Merle had said hi to him and must have forgotten, but a quick zone of truth put all that to bed. Even under zone of truth, Mavis still didn’t know exactly where Angus was, just that he’d asked her to cover for him. Taako had called just about everyone he knew about that, including Lucretia up on the moon base and Davenport out on his boat, but nobody had seen the boy.

Clever, really, Taako thought. Angus probably knew there was a zone of truth risk and purposefully didn’t give away any information, he was a detective after all.

Taako felt like a detective himself now, trying to piece together what little information he had to track the boy down. Angus was pretty good at covering his tracks, but Taako was good at thinking in the mindset of a runaway. He didn’t have time to think about why Angus had up and disappeared on them, why at Candlenights, where he’d gone, what he was running from. Those all sounded dangerously close to emotions, and he _definitely_ didn’t have time for that. No, first and foremost he had to find his boy.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Ren soothed, a hand on Taako’s shoulder as he thought. “You know what kids are like when they’re growing up, he probably just wanted some space before the holidays.”

Taako shook his head. Angus had a wealth of people he could stay with if he wanted peace, and he’d never had trouble asking for quiet time before, why lie about it now?

“He’s up to something.” Was Taako’s only reply, still focused on the opposite wall in thought. He didn’t want to admit that there was a possibility something had happened to him, so his mind settled on the idea that Ango was off on an adventure of his own and soon to receive some wizarding backup (whether he liked it or not).

Ren seemed concerned at his state, but left him to it as she went back to her desk. “You worry too much, he’s a smart kid! I bet he’ll be back on his own in no time.”

-

Taako stepped through the portal. Kravitz had enchanted a small wand with the plane teleporting powers he, Barry and Lup used to get around as reapers and kept it under their bed. Taako was only supposed to use it in emergencies, but this definitely qualified as one in his mind. He just had to eliminate one possibility first.

The Astral Plane was quiet, unnervingly so, as usual. Not to mention cold, it certainly explained why Kravitz came home from work freezing every night.

The reaper in question was elsewhere, thankfully. If he saw Taako strolling into the Astral plane about to just have a casual chat with his Queen, he’d probably turn to bone on the spot. He seemed just as concerned about Angus’s disappearance as Taako, and had taken full advantage of his portaling powers to search everywhere they thought Angus might be. Barry and Lup were also scouring the land, checking in with acquaintances from old missions to dig up any sightings they could.

They had everything short of the militia hunting Angus down, but Taako had a different idea of where to look.

_WHAT FOOLISH MORTAL SOUL DARES TO ENTER MY DOMAIN UNESCORTED?_

Taako had been told he couldn’t properly see the Raven Queen because he wasn’t dead and under her jurisdiction yet, so she only appeared to him as a voice in his head and a hazy black mist before him. He took Lup’s word that she looked, as she said, “rad as f*ck”.

He flinched a little at the grand auditory assault, and cleared his throat. “Uh, hey Bird Momma, got a minute?”

_TAAKO?_

The voice seemed to change, shrinking and softening (maybe? It was hard to tell from the way her booming tone still filled his head).

_PARTNER OF MY KRAVITZ, WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE BEFORE YOUR TIME?_

“Well uh, a friend of mine’s gone missing and I was hoping you could uhh, check your records? I’d like to make sure he hasn’t.. y’know...” he paused, reluctant to finish the thought. “checked in recently.”

_ANGUS MCDONALD_

Without a face to look at, it was hard to tell if she was perceptive or someone had already told her. Taako nodded.

_HE ISN’T AMONG US NOW, IT IS NOT HIS TIME YET_

In the chilled dark void of the Astral Plane, Taako’s sigh of relief was visible. They hadn’t found the boy yet but at least he could cross the worst off his mind. Even though he knew she had no eyes at present to stare with, he thought he could feel the goddess’s attention on him, waiting for more information.

“Well, that’s good at least.” He sighed, brushing some hair out of his face in an attempt to look casual. “I guess I better get back up top again, gotta continue the search an’ all...”

_DO NOT FEAR FOR YOUR CHILD, FATE WILL GUIDE HIM TO YOU_

He stopped mid-swing of ripping a portal back to the house and took a moment to process her words.

*Fate...*

He knew fate. Pretty closely, Taako would argue. Istus knew everything that was going to happen, if she didn’t know where Angus was she could at least tell Taako when he was going to be found, right?

As he pulled his arm back and tore a proper portal home, he decided that he’d already bothered _one_ deity with this, might as well go hog wild.

-

Getting to Refuge was easy. He was tempted to use another charge on the portal wand but he wasn’t sure how many they had (and he already dreaded having to explain to Kravitz where the first charge went). He was a strong independent wizard, he had ways of making it there by himself.

(Maybe one of those ways was [Explain Later]

It wasn’t too odd being back in refuge again, he did stop by every now and then to give Paloma a visit. This was the first time he’d come back to Istus’s temple though, since their relic-gathering days. To the locals’ credit, it looked a little more spruced up, ribbons curled around pillars and the odd flower growing out of cracks, he was sure the deity would appreciate the little soft touches.

He burst through the doors in a confident stride, no patience to announce himself, just looking for information. “Hey Istus! Have you seen my bo-“

His speech and stride stopped dead in the middle of the alter, as the goddess of Fate Herself looked up at him and, standing meek and surprised before Her, one Angus McDonald.

“Bo- B- Ango!” He stuttered out in shock.

“Sir?!” The boy squeaked, immediately turning to face him all the way and hurriedly hiding something behind his back. As Taako picked up his pace and continued his march up the aisle, Angus considered casting blink and using the Ethereal Plane to get away, but he knew Taako would just follow him. The jig was up.

“The jig is up!!” Announced Taako as he hopped up the steps of the alter to stand next to Angus. “Where in god’s name have you _been??_ ”

Angus opened his mouth to answer, but Istus’s serene voice spoke for him instead.

“He’s been right here with me.” She smiled.

“Then _why_ in god’s name have you been?? ...here”

Angus glanced back up towards Istus to see if she had anything to say, but the deity simply gave him a nervous smile.

“I’m afraid you may have to show him now.”

With a slightly defeated look, Angus brought out what he’d been hiding from behind his back. A single scarf. It was knitted together from purple yarn, and Taako could recognise a faint magic aura surrounding it.

“Candlenights is coming,” Angus shyly said. “I wanted to make you something but, Magnus didn’t know how. Miss Ren said she knew somebody who could teach me.”

Well, that explained why Ren had been so insistent that Angus would be fine.

“Oh...” Taako’s brain had a lot to process, but Angus’s nervous and mournful expression looking up at him sped his reaction along. “Oh Ango.”

He knelt down and pulled the boy into a hug, patting his back as he did. Angus seemed unsure for a second, but quickly put his arms around Taako in return.

“Thanks Pumpkin, it’s perfect.” He smiled, a little reluctantly as he could feel Istus’s eyes on him. He stuck his tongue out and made a grumpy face for a moment and heard her laugh.

“Did our dear Raven Queen give me away?” Istus asked.

“Sort of,” came Taako’s hesitant reply. “Not in so many words.”

Istus shook her head. “She’s not very good with secrets, I’m afraid.”

“Happy Candlenights sir,” came Angus’s muffled reply. “I’m sorry I ran away.”

“Oh you’re still in hella trouble for that,” Taako pulled back, shooting the boy a moment’s long stern look. “... but we’ll deal with that later.”

Angus quickly burrowed back into Taako’s arms for another hug, he didn’t seem to care about this impending punishment. Taako returned the hug as well, a great weight had been lifted from his tense shoulders having finally found his boy and, whether he could deny it or not, he was touched that Angus went to such great lengths to get him a Candlenights gift.

“C’mon,” Taako said after letting the hug drag out. He stood up and gave a dramatic stretch, before holding one hand out for Angus to take. “We better get going if you wanna be home for Candlenights, everybody’s waiting for their magic boy.”

Angus wiped his eyes as subtly as he could and took Taako’s hand. “Thanks dad.”

A new kind of tension returned, for just a moment. _Oof_ , that was an emotional barrier Taako hadn’t prepared for yet. But, well, it was Candlenights and he was very tired, he could let it slide just this once. “No problem Pumpkin.”

“...Don’t tell Krav I went to RQ’s place though okay?”


End file.
